In the context of paper-based protective packaging, rolls of paper sheet are crumpled to produce the dunnage. Most commonly, this type of dunnage is created by running a generally continuous strip of paper into a dunnage conversion machine that converts a compact supply of stock material, such as a roll or stack of paper, into a lower density dunnage material. The continuous strip of crumpled sheet material may be cut into desired lengths to effectively fill void space within a container holding a product. The dunnage material may be produced on an as needed basis for a packer. Examples of cushioning product machines that feed a paper sheet from an inside location of a roll are described in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2008/0076653, 2008/0261794, and 2012/0165172.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0165172 generally discloses a converter configured for pulling in a stream of sheet material and converting the material into dunnage. The publication further discloses that the supply units of sheets fed into the converter can be daisy chained together, with the end of one supply unit attached to the beginning of the next supply unit.
It would therefore be desirable to employ an apparatus and method of a supply handling system for stabilizing supply units to be fed into the dunnage conversion machines.